Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1887-07-16
A LITERARY VENTURE.
How and Why II Proved a Grand
Success.

apparatus Ill lnlS ulrecJlOn, JOHl HOW
land. That is the kind Of mail matter
! receive" cried Stuart Claire, Us,
bursting into Howland's law Office in
Windham, he held up two bulky en-
yclopes. Both those stories | sent
out Il fortnight ago have returned like
bad pennies. They were forwarded
from home this morning, l declare it's
too bad, after all the wear and tear of
brain tissue spent upon thcm''
"Pshaw! Stuart, that's nothing.
Wait, as | do, until You have things
come back six or eight times before
you complain. Lack of appreciation
is the common fate of all great minds.
'Sartor Rcsartus' and 'Innoccnts
Abroad were rejected ut first, Then
see the great poems that have met with
n cold reccption-the Song of the
Shirt, for instance. Why, only Il fort
night ago the Meteor rejected one of
my finest illusions on Autumn 1t
started out in this way"
1.-The Mete0r?'
mo; the poem"
"'Wide, hillock.dimpled amber lass
Stretch far away before my door;
The grasses rolled
by autumn's breeze.
Recall the tales that scers OF old
Wrote Of dcep-waved Hcspcrian seas
OF molten gold. ''
"Say, John, if I'll admit that that
doggcrel and Song of the Shirt ought
not have been refused, what will YOU
take in cash not to inilict upon me the
remaining stanzas. I'm not feeling
very strong to-day. and moreover, I'm
interested just now in the fate of these
storics,n interrupted Stuart.
ooh, of course III stop if your sordid
soul can not comprehend the beautiful
imagery. What about those precious
sketches of yours2"
''Wcll, I'm puzzled what to do with
them. One editor writes that the story
] sent him is meritorious, but can not
be used on account of lack of space
Stuart Clare, when were You born?
You make me blush for your ignorance.
Don't You know that that hackncycd
excuse is only another way of telling
you that he thinks your stuff the
mcrcSt bosh.'
well. that is what he said, anyway.
The other n says my descriptions are
excellent, but that the conversational
scenes are wrctched. I've a notion to
throw both packages into the fire. Lit
erary ambition is all vanity and vexa-
ton"
$50 your descriptions are good and
the talk poor? Strange coincidence
The editor of the C%iccronian wrote me
only last week that my description,
spoiled the good impression made by
my loye-sccnes. Say, Stuart, have
an idea"
Don't lose it, You may never have
another"
"Silence in the court! Let's form Z
partnership. You write the dcscrip'
tons and I'll do up the talking. It'll
be just the thing-Besant and Rice,
Erckmann-Chatrain, Nicolay and Hay
style, don't you know"
THAT is a good scheme. While We
were about it we might write a book
YES, and we could use our last
summers camping at the lake as par
Of the ~'machincry.'n
Make you and Mile Payson chic.
actors, -ch? By the way, John, do YOU
ever write to Millie?"
mo. The fact is, Stuart, | dare not
am afraid | should tell her too much
and, although she was very kind to m,
at the camp, / know Judge payson'
daughter would never marry a strug
Cling limb of the law like me-"
"Nonsense! She will think it strang,
that two months have passed and YOU
have not written, when you live onl,
fifty miles away. You were boil
awful 'spoony' at the lake, you know
il were in your place I'd frame som
excuse and begin a correspondence. ]
won't do any harm, and it may max
your fortune"
Then the conversation driftcd bac
TO the literary project. and when, tn
next day, Stuart Claire returned HON,
he and his bosom friend had complete
arrangements for writing e bool
They had both been eager, but, thu
far, unsuccessful aspirants for literar
glory; but they hoped bv joining the
forces to produce a taking work
a tale which might perchance pro,
the longed-for ideal American move
Both were to write upon note-pape
because, as Stuart had said, thel
would be less words upon a page. an
1t would require less copying to dow
tail the two portions of the story.
Six weeks went by. John in Win,
ham and Stuart in Beloit, u score
miles apart, had both been able
snatch considerable time from their n
very pressing law-practices, and devo
tito developing the ~agreed-upon pic
Then Stuart, who was TO make the fir
attempt to arrange the work, wrote h
friend to send on the manuscript.
was done. In n few days came bat
this letter:
''BELofT, Nov. 20, 1884
NJ DEAR JOHN: ] received the package
manuscript, and have been busy combining
with mine. They match pretty fairly. and
think. by using Q few hundred words he
and thcrc Nc q harness, We can have o stro
team.
u Ind Que place, however. where you ha
slippsd y CO... 70 70 SPEAK. Ia The eighteen